This year, in addition to peace and unity, the 10th Theater Olympiad was at the center of the Palm Sunday crossroad. At the joint event of the city and church denominations, in addition to Debrecen, actors from Budapest, Miskolc, Győr, and Veszprém honored the ecumenical way of the cross with their presence.
Mayor László Papp said at the ceremony that the initiative started more than ten years ago, in 2012, which is still alive today and, according to his hopes, will continue in this city in the coming years and decades.
I am grateful and thank our church leaders that even though they belong to and their followers belong to different denominations, we can still find the occasion when we can be together in preparation for the biggest celebration of Christianity, showing the unity of this city, its commitment to religion and faith
– he emphasized.
The city manager emphasized that Easter is the glorious, holy holiday of the resurrection. And if there is a city in Hungarian history that has risen from its dust quite a few times, it is Debrecen. The phoenix bird visible in the city’s coat of arms symbolizes Debrecen rising again and again and becoming stronger, which became stronger and stronger with each resurrection. With the approach of the biggest holiday of Christianity, let’s prepare for the resurrection of Jesus and let’s also prepare for the fact that this city will become stronger again and again – concluded the mayor.
After the festive speeches, Ferenc Palánki, the county bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, Fülöp Kocsis, the archbishop-metropolitan of the Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Hajdúdorog, and Károly Fekete, the bishop of the Tiszántúli Reformed Church District, consecrated and blessed the branches, which were then distributed among the participants by folk dancers. The celebrating congregation walked the six stations of the cross in Debrecen with the consecrated branches in their hands.
Within the framework of the event, pastors of various denominations preached at each station, as well as choirs of various denominations, and actors from several parts of the country took part, while in the program in front of the Great Church, the Kuckó Art Farm, the Miskolc Wind Ensemble, the Lautitia Choir Family, the Főnix Gyermek – and representatives of the Youth Folk Dance Ensemble, the Forgórózsa Dance Ensemble, the Hortobágy Folk Dance Ensemble, the Debrecen Hajdú Dance Ensemble and the Debrecen Folk Ensemble took part.
After the Stations of the Cross, G. Rossini’s Stabat Mater was performed in the Szent Anna Cathedral by the choir of the Csokonai Theater under the direction of conductor János Ács, and then a musical service called Dominica Palmarum awaited those interested in the Great Church with the participation of the Debrecen Garrison Band and the Honvéd Men’s Choir, conducted by István Pál.
Debrecen City Hall
